Lincoln's Undying Words - Chicago History Museum

[RJNorton]

Unless I'm mistaken, didn't Lincoln himself explain in his Cooper Union speech that his position was the conservative position?

He tried to separate his own position and that of the Republicans from the radical John Brown. He said, "You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We deny it; and what is your proof? Harper's Ferry! John Brown!! John Brown was no Republican; and you have failed to implicate a single Republican in his Harper's Ferry enterprise."

(Not sure if my reply is what you were looking for, Lane)